If you have ever met Zalma, you know the warmth she carries; conversations with her feel like reconnecting with an old friend. And if you haven’t, her music offers that same embrace. A soft, soulful touch that reaches beyond sound. Leaving you seen, heard, and understood. It's a universal connection we all long for.

Every artist knows the weight of burnout. When creating no longer feels intentional, the work can lose its soul. That’s when the pause comes, the questioning, the unraveling, the quiet crisis of wondering what any of it means and how the choices we’ve made have carried us here. Slowly, this often leads to the state of surrender, but strangely enough, that’s where the true awakening happens. For Zalma, that surrender became the key to her latest EP, Things I’ve learned on earth, a project created not just from returning to music but rediscovering what creation truly means to her. That’s what makes this release feel so deeply special.

Zalma’s music is a journey of contrasts, tender yet impactful, introspective yet uplifting. Her sound shifts effortlessly between intimate, soul-stirring moments and lively, feel-good rhythms that invite both reflection and celebration. With Things I’ve learned on earth, Zalma invites listeners to experience or reconnect with her artistry, highlighting both the emotional depth and playful spirit that ultimately led her to redefine her music.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Zalma to understand directly what this project means to her and the journey that brought it to life. For the These Days listeners, whether they’re hearing it for the first time or revisiting it, Zalma shared the heart behind the music, offering insight into her creative process and the personal journey that shaped the EP.

Some may know you through the intimate setting of Building Blocks, but for our readers who may not know, who is Zalma?

I feel like my life is experienced in what I’ve been calling street view & satellite view. Satellite view is the lens that I look through life that is spiritually tapped in, connected to the divine. It's the part of me that channels down wisdom from somewhere else, I believe we all have access to this God within us. And then Street view, is like my human body experience, knee-jerk reactions, feelings, belief systems to this human experience etc.

And Zalma is almost like the conversation the documentarian on both of these sides. Since I was little, I’ve always felt aware that this life is like a borrowed little vacation, and I always felt like I had come from somewhere else, like I felt a little weird but always felt very spiritually and emotionally in tune even though I didn’t have the language for that. Zalma is the project that helps me describe and explore that sensation.

In a sense, I understand what you’re saying and I am not just saying that since you’re right in front of me, ha. But, what is the meaning behind your name?

The name was created to honor the story of a family member I admire very much. Creating art using the name Zalma feels so meaningful to me and I pull a lot of strength and courage from it.

That’s beautiful. Especially with this EP, it feels like a love letter to your family, and even your past self—the version of you that carried you to where you are now. What are five words you’d use to describe your sound?

Uh-oh, hopefully I answer this right lol. I would say it’s nostalgic, timeless, vibey (can I even use that as a word), introspective, and soulful.

Introspective was the first word I thought about when thinking about your sound! So tell us a little bit about the creative process for Things I’ve learned on earth.

It was very very random. The point of this project was to let intuition lead completely. I truly did not force or overthink anything in the creation part of this project. Even down to the album art.

We have to talk about the album art too, because knowing you and seeing the artwork it makes sense.

Aw, really? That was taken in my little Pasadena apartment, before I moved in with my partner. There’s actually a backstory behind the parrot wings. Parrots have always held a symbolic meaning for me, especially after my father’s passing. Growing up, my dad had this random parrot mobile, and when I went back home to Cleveland after he passed, it was the first thing I wanted to keep. It suddenly carried so much meaning. At that time, I was overwhelmed and questioning whether I even wanted to make music again.

When I returned to LA, I was subletting an apartment and kept hearing a parrot outside. I thought I was imagining it, but I even caught the sound on my Instagram stories. It almost felt like my dad was speaking to me through it. Not long after, I learned that flocks of green parrots had started flying all over the city. People called them the Pasadena Parrots. And green just happens to be my favorite color. It all felt serendipitous, almost like a sign, especially during a time when I was filled with so much uncertainty.

Girl, I’m all about signs. I truly believe that Heaven, spirit guides, and our loved ones who’ve passed are always trying to communicate with us; we just have to be open and pay attention. But, can you explain what this project means to you on a deeper level aside from just the album artwork?

This project feels like ME. And I love how it all fell into place, TILOE will forever be this time capsule of me intentionally being a good listener to my intuition/the divine. Tbh I have another project that I first did with a friend of mine, Cole MGN, but I was so stressed & overwhelmed about how the music was going to get heard, I was just returning to music after a long hiatus & felt just lost lol. My partner suggested I just release something as a test to overcome that feeling of needing to get it “right” and so I ended up producing something very quickly and I released it very randomly and it felt SO good to do that….and so I kept going, I thought I was making songs to add to the project I did with Cole but then this whole other world happened.

This project ties in so perfectly to the next batch of music I am going to release and it feels so good to have made something that feels like things I’ve always wanted to express.

Truly, sometimes the best things come from stopping from and just letting things happen on their own. How does this project differ from your past one released in 2019, named Safe Space?

Safe Space was a big labor of love, I worked on that project with many amazing producers, I was in one of the hardest seasons of my life, sonically the sound is a bit fuller in production and maybe more experimental, it's hard to put into words but truly everything about that project was different except the topics surrounding spirituality, healing are definitely the same. This project feels more like my research findings after the season of what happened in what I wrote about in Safe Space.

That’s another great project I encourage our readers to check out alongside Things I’ve learned on earth. If someone were to discover you for the first time, what song would you like them to hear first and why?

This always changes haha but today I pick “Things I’ve learned on earth” because I feel like this song truly feels like me & it kind of gets into so many different aspects of my style, maybe it's like a good sample platter?

Not to be biased, but it IS a great song to introduce new listeners as an artist. Also there is a short film that you shared alongside the release of the project, how did that come together?

I got a dm from Ricardo Bouyett, a film maker in Chicago, about one of the songs off the EP sometime last year. We had a lot of parallels in what we were both dealing with in our personal lives and we already had a mutual excitement to collab on something. Eventually I decided I wanted to create a trailer for the EP. I spent weeks literally meditating on what the voiceover would be writing-wise and nothing was fully landing for me. I would try to intentionally create time to write it down or record it but it always felt incomplete in the messaging. I prayed about it and finally decided to let it go, it would come whenever it did and I knew it would be right. My partner and I were grabbing food one day, and that’s when the words came - like mid veggie burger lol it was so weird. I’m scribbling it down on paper and when I read it back a few days later I was like okay yeah this is definitely it. I sent a rough recording to Ricardo and that was that!

Produced by Bouy Films

You just played your first show in Chicago, what was it like playing these songs live for the first time?

It had been awhile since I performed my own music and this show felt like I was remembering the whole point of creating music in general. The Chicago music community has been so kind and welcoming to me as a whole and that energy stayed true in the audience as well. It felt so good connecting with people and singing together - there were a couple of surreal moments. This show definitely felt very important to whatever comes next.

To end things off, what does success look like to you?

Creating a life I don’t want a break from: getting to share & create my music full time, having a garden, all needs & wants met with ease, spending loads of time with family & close friends, building a community, & a healthy nervous system.

For Zalma, This Time is Different